Future fighting
by TheCoffeeWriter
Summary: Talim and Kilik has received a letter about a contest from an unknown adresser. They both decides to join, but what will happen? Talim x Kilik staring other SC characters. Please R & R!
1. The flight

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, Namco do. I just make this for my own and others amusement and therefore not for money. But! This story is from my imagination:)

Chapter 1: The flight

Talim looked out of the slim window on the plane and wondered what she had gotten herself into. She had received a strange green letter from somewhere in Egypt, which contained an invitation to a contest, a few days ago. What the contest was about weren't mentioned in the letter. It seemed like normal contests, but Talim doubted. Why would she in the first place get a letter from some unknown addresser? She had first tried to see if there were any other informations upon the letter - nothing. Then she had searched for the contest on the internet. Still nothing. By an act of desperation after such disappointing results, she asked her life essence. The wind. Even that couldn't give her anything useful. But she knew there was something rotten about it; even though she decided to go.

A stewardess passed by and Talim called after her. She ordered a sprite and drifted away in her thoughts again. She usually wasn't the type, who was interested at joining in any kind of competitions and even less the prize.'What brings me there?' she thought and gazed absently around in the carbine. A pair of nut brown eyes met hers from the other row beside the walking space. They belonged to – she wouldn't say man – but a certainly older guy. He had dark brown neck-long hair going into spikes. Some of them were covering his forehead. Around his neck hung a light-green crystal pendant in a gold chain, which reached the middle of his chest. His clothes had a look of business to it but in a relaxed and modern way. He was in all impression really hot.

Her eyes went back to his face and she noticed a scar on his left cheek. She wanted to ask, but instead she turned her head and continued to stare out on the azure blue sky with small white clouds dominated by a shining globe.

Talims thoughts returned into the pace it had been in before she eyed the guy. She knew well the reason why she was on her way to the contest. It was almost too simple: boredom. It was just plain boredom. She was getting tired of the routine with the college and she needed to feel a new fresh wind. A wind, which could tell her other stories. This was her chance. 'You would be a fool if you didn't take it when it appeared' her conscience whispered.

"Right," she mumbled and made herself comfortable before taking a nap.

She woke up when a big but gentle hand shook her lightly. It was that guy from before, she observed groggily.

"What-" she asked a bit confused, when it suddenly came clear to her that they weren't moving nor were there any people nearby except for themselves. 'We must have arrived' she thought, grabbed her things and followed the guy out off the plane.

A warm and dry silence hit her in face like a massive door and studied her surroundings critically, while she shadowed her eyes with a hand for better sight. How was she supposed to make it out here where everything was more or less rock and sand? Palm trees seemed to be the only vegetation; they grew between the small metal complexes of the airport. And then - there was not a wind in the air. It was completely still. This made her feel arkward. The other passengers had apparently gone inside to recover from the heat. She agreed. That would be nice.

"My name's Kilik," a deep but pleasant male voice said. Was that guy still here? It kind of annoyed her but meanwhile it made her curious. Could it be possible that he should go to the contest as well?

"Nice to meet you, I'm Talim," she answered politely and paused for a moment, before asking if he had received a similar letter. His gaze told her that he had.

While they walked to the airport central, he spoke: "I think it's very odd. I can't see what's making me capable. I'm not into contests and so, irritating really."

"You aren't? Me neither, however I wanted to experience something different. So here I am," She made a gesture towards everything around them.

They entered the big hall, which was like a refreshing oasis. Talim reached automatically out her hands and called all the moving oxygen to her. It came to her without any fighting. 'Sometimes the wind is like a tame dog, fake or real,' she smiled by her own comparison. She had to know more of this contest and the easiest way to get it was to talk with the wind. She chattered first about normal stuff, but little by little she turned the conversation into what the wind had heard about the contest. It didn't know much; nevertheless she got a bit cleverer - Before her and Kilik, seven passengers from the plane had left this area to find a bus.

"We should follow the other contest joiners. They probably know where we should head to," she said and they moved together across the hall to the exit, which had a green sign with a white bus above it.

Continues...


	2. Eying the other competitors

Disclaimer: How much I ought to wish these characters are mine - they simply and disappointingly aren't. That's the fact. All of the SC characters belongs to Namco. The only thing I have change are the age and their occupation plus a few other things but still making it reckonable. Yada yada... On with the story!

Chapter 2: Eying the other competitors

Talim held her head between her legs, trying to catch her breath. It hadn't been easy to find the right bus among all the other busses and taxies - One made a good deal trying to convince them driving with him. They had politely turned off his offer and it had following turned pretty bad afterwards. They had practically their legs on the back of their neck. Finally at a corner away from all the tumult on the big square, they found the bus. It appeared as every one of the passengers from the same plane were inside and ready to go. The motor of the bus roared like a wild beast.

However, after a bit of talking with the driver, they climbed the stairs and searched for a free spare seat; He had secured them that there would conversely be lot of time for recovering. The driver wouldn't say precisely where the camp was placed but they should arrive at it around sun set the next day.

This didn't raise her attention nor did the plenty of non-occupied seat.

She lifted her head, when she noticed that someone truly was whispering her name nearby. It was Kilik.

"Take a glance around you and tell me your opinion," he said softly as he bowed over to her because of the distance between them. He had seated on the other row beside the walking space – just like in the plane. Why does he do that? Talim couldn't help wondering but pushed that question away for his.

She led her brown eyes room the cabin from one side to another: two girls with blond hair sat in front of Kilik. They had Greek-looking clothes on. Even though they approximately gave the impression of being the same, one of the girls looked slightly older than the other. The youngest had short hair held back by a headband and the other longer. In front of Talim was a man. His hair was in a black ponytail, his armour heavy and shiny.

She could count a few more – A redhead, a girl with dark brown hair and… Was that an Elvis-stylish hairdo by the driver? Talim thought while raising her eyebrows in pure amusement. Then she glared over her shoulder and noticed a pair of horns; A Viking-type or a gladiator? – Her thoughts paused before going to the last person - a guy with oily blond hair. Was that a rapier by his side?

She returned her full attention at Kilik and whispered back:

"You should think we would be more people. We're not more than ten!"

He shrugged. He didn't have an answer – neither did she. But there was only one way to find out.

"Hello there! My name's Talim" she said cheerfully towards the two girls. They stopped their conversation, both giving her smiles in return. Talim sighed and tried again. "Who are you? It would be nice to at least to know your name."

The two blonds whispered whether to say it or not, but they apparently agreed the first thing as the oldest spoke: "My name is Sophitia and this is my sister Cassandra" motioning over to the one with short hair. The girl waved swiftly. The one called Sophitia had most likely decided to make Talim and Kilik company as both of the sisters moved to sit next to them.

"You see. We don't understand why we got those letters. I'm just interested in my children and haven't fought for years. My sister is at the university, so she has her homework. "The woman continued. Talim discovered that Kilik and Sophitia must be around same age.

"What about the others?" Talim asked curious and nodded in direction of the one with armour. This was highly mysterious and she needed to find the answers.

"Everyone here has probably a similar story matching ours – yours. "

Strange.

"Who are they?" Talim asked stubbornly.

Sophitia and Cassandra exchanged gazes. The shorthaired shook her head. "Well… we don't know much actually. When we got here we were hardly informed at anything. The only thing is names and places. Very weird though."

Nevertheless Talim got what they knew; the one with the ponytail was Mitsurugi and had travelled all the way from Japan. He used Katana and was definitely not a talker. But that was probably because he was a samurai, Sophitia stated.

Mitsurugi merely grunted at this point.

Then there was the redhead named Yun-Seong. Talim was warned to near him, since he had nothing else than himself in mind – thinking that he was too talented for everyone in the cabin. He simply was a plain pain in the ass. He was from Korea. The girl with the dark hair was Xianghua, her full name Chai Xianghua. She mastered the Chinese sword and came from Peking. Talim was also warned about her. She might seem weak and sweet, but was light to toes and strong.

The one with Elvis-hair was Maxi; A seafarer and adventurer. He had seen a lot of things and this gave him a little of Yun-Seoungs attitude but else a fine company. He used Nunchaku with an agility which impressed the most. He was from Shuri. The one with the horns was Rock. A man from the British Empire and he used giant mace. The last one was the blond man named Raphael. He was from Rouen.

'That's explaining his weapon' Talim thought but she was corrected. He used an English sword rapier.

After the information, Talim was left in thoughts. What she had heard about them sounded really good. And she hasn't yet seen them in practice. She was about to enter something tough. Tougher than she had ever expected and she couldn't slip the thought that she couldn't stand a single chance against these Profs. She turned her head and looked for the first time out of the window since they left the airport. The time had gone faster than she had imagined: the sun was about to go down behind the horizon. The last light cast though the panes, making everything swim in peach, yellow and deep red colours - Besides this breathtaking sight was there only dreary sand wherever you placed your glance.

"Talim… Talim!" said Cassandra and Talim woke up from her trance.

"Yes?" she answered.

"What do you use for weapon?" was the excited question. There almost got completely silence in the cabin.

"Uh… I use two times elbow blades, "Her voice unsure.

"That's sound pretty cool! How long have you been using those?" exclaimed Cassandra and got a poke in the ribs by her sister a second later. She more or less dragged the younger back to their original seats, mumbling something with indecent manner.

Talim realized she had held her breath and relieved she breathed out. She felt a concerned gaze upon her and she smiled at Kilik. He had not the slightest been involved in the chat with the two sisters. He could have been one of the seats!

"What do you think about this?" she asked him in a low voice.

He raised his dark eyebrows with a half-amused expression.

"This is going to be a great deal more agitated than I thought."

Continues...

**AN: Tadah! chapter two already. I'm a little proud since I wrote this on a couple of hours - which I usually don't. Takes probably a month or such XD I just feel like it, you know? I wanted more of the SC 3 characters to join in but thought it would be too hard for me keeping them as they more or less are. Now, all of or main characters and subcharacters are been introduced. Then we really can begin to have fun!:D**


	3. Arrival at the camp

Disclaimer: I don't own SC or any of the characters blah blah... Namco does.

Oh... Except for Samantha but she's a made-up based on Tira.

**I would like to thank: Master Edge and baka silver for reviewing glomp**

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Chapter 3: Arrival at the camp

The camp was an amazing and yet odd sight. Talim didn't know what she had expected – maybe a traditional school camp with houses made of wood sticks, except from the forest, which wouldn't have been there to surround them. Or perhaps a military-like place with huts and a barbed-wire entanglement: everything else than this. It was like an Oasis in the desert, which you could say it literally was. There were five big houses with at least 3 floors and an extension, which must be the training centre. They all had the Southern look to them, seeing it white-calked and with dark brown shutters. Talim could see a swimming pool not far from the entrance of the camp, even though it was almost hidden behind palms and ferns. It was unbelievable that the vegetation was so rich and vigorous when it was the total different thing at the airport. 'Our host must be a very rich man' Talim concluded in her head.

The other competitors, however, seemed to share her opinion, making it out from their facial expression.

Kilik came up on the side of her. "I find this very strange. Why would a rich man arrange a tournament like this and besides of that give everything a competitor needs? "

Talim nodded in agreement. But they would never discover why, if they just kept on standing here. She took her belongings over one shoulder and made her way down the path to the houses. The others followed in slight hesitation. Even the hard Rock seemed doubtful. It was unnatural.

Suddenly a voice sounded nearby and she stopped abruptly, looking around to locate the place. She got disappointed however, because it was nothing more than a loudspeaker, placed on one of the houses on her right.

"Welcome to camp Oasis. My name's Zarzalamel. I'm sorry that I can't be here to give you the houses you shall be placed in my self but I have other things to attend. My assistant Samantha will give you the information you should be wishing to ask. I hope I'll see you by the fights. "

Talim frowned deeply. The name Zarzalamel rang a bell but it was a poor help as she couldn't say where she knew it from. Of course it would be fights, but she didn't like the way he said it, as if it was a life or death matter. She looked over her shoulder and met Sophitias eyes. The young women shared a silent agreement. Then she glazed at Kilik. He nodded. Go on, he said wordlessly.

The whole group of competitors walked on and came to a little information house.

Talim knocked and waited.

A brown-haired woman opened the door, smiling cold: her purple eyes glimmering wickedly. Goosebumps ran down Talims spine and her first thought was to run as far away as she could.

"Hel – hello. My – my name's Talim. And this is – is the others who got invited here," Talim stammered and made a move towards the people behind her. Under normal circumstances she wouldn't act like that, but the woman scared her to death. She had never felt such an evil energy for a long time. Not since… No, that was impossible. It couldn't be her.

"Welcome, I take that you got the message from Mr. Zarzalamel," Samantha smirked and continued, "Now, listen carefully. Men and women live in separated houses, but are welcome to share company outdoor or in the training centre. Alcohol and smoking are illegal while you're here. Sneaking around on the area is not allowed too. Dinner will be served at 18.30 - Breakfast at 6.00."

That was apparently the information they needed, because Samantha locked the door shut again a second after.

Talim thought that it might not appear as a Military base but it sure was.

She and Cassandra said goodbye to Kilik and the other guys. Yun-seong did try to follow the women with the excision 'The women need a talented young man as himself to help them". He got a kick, which made him collide with the house the guys should share.

Talim quickly finished packing out her things. Every one of them got their own rooms with bathroom and wardrobe. The room Talim had was big and coloured in light cream. A little palm stood in one of the corners by the gigantic window. A big double bed was placed in the middle of the room with a bedside table on the right. It had a little lamp upon it. Talim assumed that the others looked the same way. She hid her weapons deep inside the wardrobe before she walked out of door, not thinking of locking it. Why would anyone want to steal her weapon when they had their own and on the other hand, everyone seemed to be uncomfortable by the situation?

She went down the staircase since all the rooms where placed on second floor. Dining room and kitchen was downstairs.

Here she stumbled on Sophitia, Cassandra and Xianghua, who was spread out on the couches. They had obviously been talking about something as their voices died out when she arrived.

"Hello Talim. Have you found yourself comfortable," asked Cassandra friendly, but her voice was thin of fright.

Talim nodded to this and took a seat next to Sophitia. It was these two she knew the best.

"We were discussing what we think of this. All this is just wrong" said Xianghua nervously and shook her head.

"Listen" Said Talim confidently, "We will get to the bottom of this. But we have to stand together."

"You are right. We have to see what this will take us, even though it means that we'll have to play along their game," Sophitia retorted with a mother's wisdom. She was after all the oldest of the girls.

"Exactly! Now if you will excuse me for a while. I'll take a look on the grounds here, "Talim answered, stood up again and waved shortly before walking out of the front door.

Funny thing, Talim thought as she led her gaze wander around on the beautiful vegetation. You are outside in fresh air and you feel trapped nevertheless. There were so many energies in the air that it was nearly overwhelming. She sensed people's desires and wishes – Plans to start.

Suddenly she bumped into someone. She looked up and met Raphael's gaze. He bowed gallantly and took her hand, kissing it gentlemanly. "Bonjour Mademoiselle, nice to meet you," Raphael said with a thick French accent. He was quite charming but there was something over him -Something false.

Talim blushed slightly: "Pleased to meet you too."

"What is a young lady doing out here without an escort?" he asked with a glimpse in his eyes.

She couldn't hold back a little laughter.

"I can take care of my self, Sir. I'm not as weak as I may look. I must get going. See you around, "She answered politely and ran off, away from the peculiar guy.

She had been everywhere on the area but nothing was out of the ordinary and she had to confess it might be the persons she disliked.

The only ones, who implied in being honest was Cassandra, Sophitia and Kilik except for herself. She had to dig further down in the others reasons being there and why the hosts awoke such a fright in her. Even though she deep inside knew it.

She sat by the pool, cooling her feet in the cold water when Kilik made her company. He was the one she had wanted to see the most right now, because she could only sense sadness and nothing evil.

"Have you checked the area?" she asked, still looking at the water.

"Yeah, but I didn't find something" he sounded a bit disappointed.

"Me neither" she answered and turned her head. "Tomorrow is our first training day. Maybe something interesting will happen. We'll never know."

He laid a big hand on her shoulder and said: "That's true. I think I'll go back inside with the guys and hang out." Kilik disappeared inside the house, leaving Talim to her thoughts.

The dusk came faster than expected, the Sun hanging low on the cloud free sky. They had everyone taken a shower and changed clothes after the travel to the camp. Talim had been in doubt where they would be eating but Samantha came and guided them to a room close up to the training centre. It had to be the cafeteria.

Kilik looked handsome as always.

Talim tried to suppress blushing but she was uncertain if it helped at all.

It looked as if you had permission to be seated next to a guy, so Talim took a seat next to Kilik and smiled at him.

"Good evening" She whispered and he smiled back to her.

"Good evening Talim. You look stunning," he said, while taking some potatoes on his plate. He offered to give her some too and she nodded.

"Thank you. You don't look that bad either" A broad smile grew on her lips.

"he he. You're welcome."

They ate in total silence. No one knowing what to say, especially with a falcon as Samantha -they had to be careful around her.

The competitors finished dining and walked back to their rooms.

Soon Talim was asleep, exhausted from all the impressions.

Continues...

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**A/N: I finally got chapter 3 done. I don't know how good it is, but... yeah... I had fun:D **


	4. First day

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from Soul Calibur – Namco does. I just make this for fun.

Chapter 4: First day

Talim woke up to find herself in a bed she didn't know. The whole room in fact. Her mistrust to the contest and the people felt like a dream – Something that seemed so important when you wake up, but gets trivial as the hands ticks on. Soon she memorized everything she had experienced the past day and she shook her head on the pillow. She was surely just imagining things, that didn't exist. The people might be really nice and she got a taste of the area yesterday, which hadn't anything to criticize the tiniest bit.

A moment she speculated what have had been the source of her wakening and noticed an awful melody outside the window, which had to come from the loudspeakers placed on the buildings. She didn't like the idea that they would be playing every single day while they were here. 'Shoot them, please,' Talim thought and visualized how everything would be peaceful if they died chuckled and swung her legs over the bedside. She crossed the room to the bathroom and took a brief drying, she saw her reflection staring back at herself in the steamy mirror. She could hardly see her big dreamy browns eyes. Her raven black hair was usually in a long plait but it was always loose when she slept or bathed. Right now it fell damp down her back and over her thought back to the time when she was 15: it had been much shorter and in ponytails. She also had had a fringe but it all had grown long over the years. She was 19-years-old and not a little girl any more.

She finished up in the bathroom and went to the wardrobe. She didn't study it yesterday but now she wondered why it was here, because she didn't pack so many clothes, so a wardrobe was unnecessary and a bit too bombastic. A chest of drawers would be enough for her.

Talim took out a training set, which was – surprisingly - in her taste: black shorts, a green scarf and a black sports bra with only thin strops around the back of the neck. Weird, she reflected but decided to try it on.

It fitted her curves perfectly as if they were made for her.

She felt the creepy feeling from earlier returning. It wasn't a dream after all. She had to uncover the truth – the sooner the better.

High-pitched voices met her in the dining room and she stopped shocked by the sight of the other girls. They all had clothes on, which apparently was made for them – and only them. The textile however was black with green borders, patterns and etc,. She dropped the bag containing her weapon.

"Al – also you guys?" she stammered.

They turned their head in the direction of her and appeared to be paralysed too.

"Evidently it looks like that" Sophitia replied helplessly.

"What is our plan?" interrupted Xianghua, who was sitting on one of the couches with her hands placed in her lap.

"We will attend the training as they would expect us to do and we will enquire Samantha for an explanation as soon as possible," Talim answered with forced cheerfulness but nevertheless with a mischievous glimpse playing in her brown eyes.

Sophitia, Cassandra, and Xianghua looked at each other with something there at first seemed like a ghost smile, but as her words came to their minds, their smiles grew bigger. They all nodded assertively at her.

"It sounds like an idea after my head" Sophitia retorted and continued, "We must keep our eyes and ears open. Don't let the slightest thing pass by. It could be important information further on."

"Hey! We could meet after dinner every day and tell what every single of us has discovered. "It came from the fine Xianghua.

"What about we wrote it down? And I'm not just thinking of events but also the personality of e.g. the guys." Suggested Cassandra. Talim saw with unmistakably satisfaction, that her cheerfulness and self-secure had awoken something in the other girls. In reality she was just as afraid and nervous as they were. But if it was the trigger to make the others girls fight for a cause, then she was happy. They would bring the scandal to the real world and it would happen a lot faster than on her own. From another point of view, they had no other opportunity as they were somewhere in a desert they hardly knew and the only way to civilisation was by bus, which was driven by one of Zarzalamels men. And – if the doubt had been there before, it was sure gone now.

"Shall we, ladies?" she asked, as she gathered her weapon from the ground.

"yes, I think we should," replied the others as a echo of each other.

She couldn't keep a little gasp back. This was huge. If she survived the whole thing, she would tell everyone back home about it.

The training centre was greater and bigger than it looked from the outside. She could only guess how much time it must have taken to build the whole thing and she couldn't imagine that even the smallest implement was missing. It was basically the dream of a fighter. A hearts desire would be fulfilled.

Behind her followed several gasps matching her own, even the guys seemed to have showed up at the same time as themselves.

" Hello Talim, how have your day been so far?" asked Kilik next to her.

Talim turned to look at him "It has been fine, how - " her voice trailed off. He looked gorgeous! He had a black cloak with golden green borders and a large pattern on his back.. The front stood wide open and showed a tanned and well-trimmed torso. The green crystal pendant hung to the middle of his chest, matching the rest.

"Something wrong?" he asked with a frown.

She shook her head and tried to hide a blush: " no – no everything is fine. The only problem there may be is that we all have clothes, which are very similar to the normal clothes we are wearing under training or fighting. Not the one we arrived in."

Kilik scanned the room and nodded. "You are right, we - "

He was cut shut by Samantha, who came from the shadows in the other end of the hall.

"Welcome. I have assume you all have noticed that this is the training facility. You may use it all you like except when there's a few days to a fight.. I guess that there are no need for further explanation since it pretty reasonable. There are lockers, showers and dressing rooms like in any other Training facility. We have jacuzzi and sauna. Whatever you want. There are placed food machines around on this ground. As I said yesterday, it's illegal smoking or drinking. We have security cameras so you get caught if you try.

Any questions?" she said in a way that made it clear she didn't really had time for their talking.

"Yes, I have one – When do I get the chance to show the others how talented I am? Like, when are we having our first competition? "Yun-Seoung, who hadn't spoken for awhile, was the one to ask. His hair seemed flaming red against the black and green. He was actually a handsome guy and would be a girls' friend if it wasn't for the mouth of his or more correctly his personality, Talim stated.

" Ah, Mr. Yun-Seoung. I see you have a deep passion for fighting and obviously showing off. I'm impressed. Now, to your question. The first competition are being held in fourteen days. This may be enough to get settled and trained."

Samantha had just finished her sentence, when the next question followed.

"When are we going to see the list of the opponents?" This time it was Maxi. He had never talked before, but Talim discovered that he had a rather pleasant voice.

"You must be Maxi. you're a seafarer as I can read. The list will be placed on your noticeboard in both houses five days before the competition. This may also be the day where you can't train any longer. Any questions related to this?" She looked straight into the eyes of the whole group. Talim got goosebumps. There was something about this woman. She raised her hand.

"Yes, Talim. " Samantha responded.

"It's not to the competition part, but actually why we all got clothes who matches our personality? I'm talking on behalf of the whole group. "

Samantha walked towards Talim and stopped 1 meter from her. She stared strictly at her and Talim could feel how her courage slipped out of her like sand in a time glass.

"Talim. The leader of the girls as it appears, eventually of you all. Yes, good question. We had to do some basic research, so what we did was simply to observe you for a couple of weeks. We know it's a violation of personal rights, but we had to make sure, that you were the best. Anything else?" She spoke a moment later. "I have other things to attend, so please excuse me. Have a nice day gentlemen and ladies."

The sound of her heels faded as she disappeared out of the door.

The group was abandoned with a mixture of rage and confusion. They didn't get any closer to a solution nor did they get smarter about the whole thing. It more seemed like they have got more questions to go than any of them answered.

"What do we do now?" asked Xianghua.

The silence was threatening in the gigantic training facility as they all thought.

" We're trapped here, so we have to continue even if we want to or not." was the attentive statement from Kilik.

They all nodded in agreement and decided that since they hadn't anything else to do, they could just train.

Soon was the sound of weapons clashing against each other present.

continues...

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A/N: I'm sorry that this chapter has been so long to get done. I have had a lot of things on my mind and my life have been a chaos. I hope nonetheless that you like this chapter.


	5. Dining with Zarzalamel

Disclaimer: I don't own the Soul Calibur characters. They belong to Namco.

Chapter 5: Dining with Zarzalamel

Many days had gone by without anything of interest had happened and their first competition was ahead of them. Talim could tell that everyone still was scare and nervous, but nevertheless fallen into a routine as Samantha promised.

'What routine?' Talim thought to herself as she continued pacing around the camp grounds. Her own routine was based on training with Cassandra, Xianghua and as the only guy Kilik, who's company she had grown quite fond of and then these walks, which she had done every day since their arrival to the camp. It was as if she unconsciously tried to find something awkward about the place, but disappointedly discovered nothing new. They were treading waters in trying to find a solution to all this.

Talim sat restless on a nearby bench sighing frustrated. The wind, which always had been around to guide and inform her, was silent this time. She used a lot of energy on meditation after her walks but no matter did it help. It stayed completely silent. Like all the other days, she made it comfortable on the bench and firmly closed her eyes.

She searched in her soul for the bond between her and the wind. It took some time but at last she found a small vibrating energy source. Sweat showed on her temple before running down her chin as she concentrated on gaining contact.

" Attention all combatants. We may inform you that you are requested to meet up to dinner in half an hour, where your host Zarzalamel will be present. " the loudspeakers announced.

Talim swore lightly under her breath. 'Why now?! I almost had it!'. She sighed for the second time that day and looked at her watch. They would be dining at 7 O'clock as usual, but this time they would be meeting Zarzalamel. Hopefully it would bring something useful with it after the disturbance. Now it was better to get back to the girls house and get dressed.

Talim hurried the short way to the dining hall, where she met the other girls. She was a bit behind the others, because she had meditated again in her room, but didn't get as close to connection as on the bench and came to herself when everyone had left. 'what a great day' Talim thought, while she was catching her breath.

"Are you okay, Talim?" Cassandra asked with a worried frown.

She nodded silently and finally looked at the others. They looked fantastic. Xianghua wore a blue Chinese-inspired dress with gold borders and it seemed to be made of silk. It really fitted her and her personality. The two Greek sisters wore similar dresses but these were only cotton and had a Greek cut. She got ashamed of herself. She only got to put on the finest dress she had, make a fast hairdo and a little make-up. Why did she had to meditate?' Talim didn't get any further in her traits of thoughts as the guys came towards them.

" Ah, bonsoir Mademoiselles. Vous semblez manifique ce soir." Raphael said with a gallant bow.

"Whatever the Frenchman says, he's right. Do you girls wanna go back to my room tonight? Then I can show you how good I am!" was the predicted retort from Yun-Seong.

Mitsurugi and Rock merely nodded as they were men of few words.

Maxi had started on a tale about beautiful mermaids or something like that. Talim didn't really listen. She was observing Kilik, who made his way to her.

"Good evening Talim. Wow... You're beautiful," He smiled warmly at her, which made her fuzzy all over.

"You look great too," she mumbled and blushed a deep red. He really did look great. He wore jeans and a black jacket with a white bottom-up under; His tanned skin with the green pendant visible.

"You surely don't look well. You're really red in your face" stated Cassandra.

The comment made everyone laugh.

"Ignore them. They are just envious," Kilik whispered and placed a hand on the small of her back, leading her inside.

The dinner table was amazing just like the rest of the camp. You wouldn't need to stave with the amount of food there was arranged on the table and there was something for every taste. The only source of light was candles, placed in holders along the wall and on the table. They all took seat by the table; Kilik at Talim's left and Yun-Seong at the right.

As she tried to ignore Yun-Seoung's obviously glare, she became aware of two empty seats. It was probably for Samantha and Zarzalamel. Where did she hear that name before?

"When do you think they will arrive?" Talim whispered to Kilik.

He shrugged: "Soon, I believe."

"You're probably right," she managed to say before the door went open and two silhouette walked into the hall. Talim could accurately see Samantha's smaller figure.

A moment later they were in the circle of light and before her stood a large and muscular man with very dark skin. He had one normal dark eye, where the other was filled with a strange gold ball. He was bald. Talim remembered faintly, that he usually wore a white headdress. He was dressed in a white habit with gold borders, similar to his normal clothes. 'Where did that come from?' Talim shivered, but suddenly she froze. No... It couldn't be **HIM**... He should be dead, exactly like... Tira. That was the reason why Samantha seemed so familiar. It was Tira. But Zarzalamel and Tira had always been enemies, both wishing to gain ultimate power and bring evil to the world. She didn't defeat them herself, but her ancestors did, while the wind had showed her some almost forgotten remembrance of Tira and Zarzalamel. Apparently it was the same for the others as if history repeated itself. But the most important right now: what made them cooperate now? Don't panic, don't panic, Talim told herself and continued collecting food on her plait with a calmness she didn't feel.

" May I present you to Zarzalamel - your host here at the camp and the one who gave you the great opportunity to enter this competition." Tira presented.

"It's wonderful to see you all gathered here," Zarzalamel spoke and Talim noted a hidden meaning in his words. A dark undertone. Goosebumps ran down her spin as a continuation of his sentence sounded in her head '_For the last time_'.

No, it couldn't be his plan – making up this competition as an excuse to get rid of them one time and for all. The realisation made her dizzy. She needed to confront him with it, but she had to act as normal as possible for the moment.

Time went by. There was eating and laughing.

Zarzalamel and Tira continued talking after dinner, but she had lost her concentration. She couldn't breath. She needed air.

"Talim!" Kilik was immediately by her side as she tumbled off her chair.

Everything closed into blackness.

Continues....

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A/N: This will be the last chapter for a while. I'm going camping in next week. Enjoy!


	6. The mission begins

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters – Namco does. I don't make profit of it. I just make this for my own and others entertainment.

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A/N: I want to thank everyone, who have been reviewing the story and given me a greater support than ever imagined. 

**If it wasn't for you guys, I wouldn't have continued the story.**

**Sorry for the short chapter, but I decided that it would be a nice cliffhanger. :3**

**And I promise that it will get updated much more often from now on.**

* * *

Chapter 6: The mission begins

Talim woke up covered in sweat. She could hardly remember the nightmare, but what worried her the most was the fact, that she didn't know how long she had been gone. Talim had vague pictures of her getting dizzy and the rest was unknown to her.

A knock sounded on the door and she sat up faintly noticing, that her clothes had been replaced with a tanktop and pyjamas bottoms.

"Come in!" she called out and the door was opened silently. It was Sophitia and Cassandra. The two Greek sisters.

As they saw that she was awake and relatively at good health, they breathed out with a relieved expression on their faces.

"We have been so worried about you! When you fainted we thought about calling a doctor, but as it seemed it was forbidden. We had to take care of you ourselves!" Cassandra blurted up and the silence had been broken.

Talim was confused. There was certainly something completely rotten about this place. Which facility would find it forbidden to call a doctor or even not having one themselves. She felt the goosebumps running down her back. She couldn't shake off the feeling, that Zarzalamel didn't want them to get out of it alive.

"For how long have I been passed out?" she asked not wanting to share her suspicions with the other just yet.

"About two days" this time it was Sophitia, who spoke and Talim could hear fright in her voice even though she tried to hide it. This strong woman was afraid.

"What day is it?Tell me!" She asked persistently not taking no for an answer.

Sophitia looked at her sister and Cassandra whispered palely: " The first fight... Between Yun-seong and Xianghua..."

Talim came to her feet faster than you could write BRB and began getting herself ready.

"You could have said that! We have to support Xianghua!"

Soon she strode out of the door followed by the two sisters.

Talim paced worried back and forth in the livingroom while the other girls sat around the sickly pale Xianghua. The girl kept whispering, that she wouldn't survive this and Talim thought of a way to prevent this from happening. What could she do?

She had absolutely no Idea.

"Talim!" Sophitia hissed at her and pulled her down to them: "You're not making it any better! Actually quite the opposite!"

Talim blushed from embarrassment. Sophitia was right. She wasn't helping.

Silence fell over the room.

"We shouldn't be sitting here as Weeping ladies," Talim said slowly and paused - how would she manage to encourage them?, "I know that the situation does look rather gravely, but we shouldn't give up. Not just yet. "

The other girls glared attentive at her with a gleam of hope in their eyes and at that moment a plan began to take form in Talims head.

"I have a plan, but you'll have to do as I say, okay?"

Everyone inclusive Xianghua nodded.

Talim gestured the others to come nearer and she told them whispering of the plan, so that no one except the involved would hear.

She just hoped they would succeed.

The girls couldn't ignore the time any longer. There were only one hour to the fight, so they had to go to the stadium, so Xianghua could get ready.

They walked as one single unit, Talim as its tail. She had other plans on her mind, but it was still too soon parting from them. Zarzalamel and his companion Samantha should not suspect that something was wrong - That she wouldn't be among the other girls at the stadium.

As they came nearer the gate to the stadium Talim sneezed as they had agreed and she disappeared into the dry vegetation. She moved silently around the buildings while trying to avoid the security cameras, which was placed on every single corner. She stroke her forehead with the back of her hand. This had proven much more difficult than suspected. She had to come up with a plan b if this should be impossible or in case she would get caught.

Would they believe her if she told them she got lost? Perhaps with a good amount of naivety. She couldn't go back now, so she had to rely that they would.

She moved to where she knew the entrance to Zarzalamels headquarters were hidden. Well, no hidden was not exactly the word, she thought. It was possible that they in fact did believe it was so, but she had seen Samantha coming from there the first day arrived. For a couple of villains they weren't very smart.

Talims real problem was right now, that she didn't know how to get in. As she mused over the question a guard passed by closely and she duck further into the vegetation and followed as near as she could get.

He pressed some buttons and she frowned.

S O U L E D G E

Soul Edge. What did it mean? She somehow knew it was important and that it somehow should ring a bell.

She shook her head and waited for a while before following.

The door closing with a loud thud and she was alone with the darkness.

There was no way of turning back.

**Continue...**


	7. Soul Edge and Soul Calibur

Soul Caliburs character (and for this chapter also the legend story line, which is written with Italic and marked with a *) does not belong to me, but to Namco.  
I found the information on wikipedia. I have moreover reformulated the part with my own words, so it fits my writing style.  
You'll find out that it's quite important to mention.

One last thing to say is:

Thank you so much for supporting my story and I hope you'll like this chapter too. I really appreciate it!

Please review, so I know what I can do better next time :)

**EDIT 16/07/2012: I changed the sign again and the password.**

EDIT 5/03/2013: I found quite a lot of mistakes, missing words etc. They should have been fixed now. 

The concrete walls turned more and more damp as she sneaked down the hallway. Talim got a feeling that she was far underground and she wouldn't have noticed if it wasn't for the cold, which hung heavily in the air. She would wish she had brought a sweatshirt.

Evil villains should choose their headquarters with more care - perhaps somewhere cosy and warm? But noo, they had to be surrounded by cold walls and metal, she thought to herself and came suddenly to a stop. The hallway ended with a sharp turn to the left. Bluish light was flashing at the wall leading to something, which appeared to be a monitor room.

If the light was so evident then it meant that they hadn't installed a door, she had to step really carefully from now on.

She peaked her head around the corner, but couldn't see anything: The room seemed to be completely desolated.

Why? She thought as she began tiptoeing towards the room and found the reason as soon as she stepped inside: 12 impressive flat screens had been plastered to the wall just left inside from the doorway. They showed combined a big image of a commencing exhausted Xianghua and Yun-Seong still fighting as if life was at stake. It **IS** a death fight a small voice in her head reminded her. A shiver ran down her spine from the state of the competitors: they had several serious wounds, they shook violently, their clothes torn and covered in dirt.

She didn't want to admit it, but she had hoped it was just a joke with the fighting. But it was real. She had to hurry, while everyone was focused on the fight and not wondering where she was. More important was that she had to save them before it was too late.

Reluctantly she turned her back from the fighting people, whom had become her friends while staying at the camp.

"Please survive guys. I trust you upon it," Talim whispered, a sad tone clinging to her voice.

When she finally searched the room with her eyes, they widened from amazement. It was not just a small monitor room. It was a least the size of the training centre at the ground above her head. It was furnished with a large designer table with eight matching chairs and an expensive lamp above it. Here and there some palms had been placed to take up more space. The most interesting in the whole room was the cupboards along the three remaining walls. They were filled with equipment, which could make even the richest villain green from envy: ancient remedies , books of high values, gems and so forth was collected behind the glass doors.

As she slowly moved towards the back, she came across something she had never expected to see: in a sapphire crystal case she saw some obscure looking pieces. One of them had an eye. She gasped. It – it couldn't be. It was impossible. Samantha - or Tira, Talim mused - and Zarsalamel had almost assembled the demon sword Soul Edge again.

But it had been destroyed by the competitors ancestors. She had seen it in the wind. No. Was that the reason as to why they had been brought here? To kill them? Make them incapable of fighting, so Tira and Zarsalamel had free hands to do as they pleased?

She didn't like her train of thoughts, but she had a feeling that she was right. She just needed more evidence.

She took a gaze over her shoulder in the direction of the screens and saw that the fight was about to end. The two of them was in such a bad condition, that it couldn't last long before both of them fainted.

Almost desperately she scanned the room for a second turn and noticed three metal sliding doors, which by the first gaze seemed invisible. The first, which was placed on the other side of the 12 flat screens was a unisex toilet. It was not interesting. The next was just some sort of 'small' kitchen, but the last one caught her interest. On a tiny sign beside the door there was written:

**ARCHIEVE **

She stated that it had to be the room where they kept all the information about the competitors, but how would she be able to enter? This door had a security system just like the one by the main door. The keyword had been Soul Edge – the same demon sword, which was in this very room.

She had been told legends about the sword from her mother and grandmother.

_'It was first said that it was held by a pirate Cervantes, whom after having devoured a lot of souls from those who searched for the sword, was about to conquer the world. He was soon stopped in his tracks by Sophitia (the first) and a ninja called Taki. But as it was about to split a knight named Siegfried came across it and turned him into a creature called Nightmare. _

_Dark times went by and Nightmare had collected enough souls to restore the proud Ostreinsburg Castle . As soon as he had begun the ceremony three warriors entered the castle. After a fierce battle Nightmare fell , but this was not the last they had seen from Soul Edge. The evil soul of the sword sent the brave warriors into a inferno of hell fire and stood to defeat them. The something amazing happened: Krita-Yuga revealed it's true form from the influence of the evil Aura of Soul Edge. The holy sword Soul Calibur...' *_

There was of course more to the story and it just seemed to repeat itself. For eternities. Perhaps forever. The everlasting battle between those who want the power, which Soul Edge can give them and those who want to prevent it from happening. Saving the world from Chaos.

Another fact was that it was as if Soul Edge denied to get defeated.

Talim shook her head violently. Enough of that now, She had better and more important things to do than dwelling on the past. Because this was the present and it was in grave danger of suffering the same devastating fate as before.

Determined she went to the security system and thoughtfully typed:

**SOUL#CALIBUR**

For a moment nothing happened, but then the door slid to the side with a little swish and Talim let out a relieved sigh, It worked! It was almost too easy.

With new energy she went into the smaller room looking around. It contained all the normal workstation equipment such as a computer, printer and copier along one of the walls. Then there was four great filing cabinets taking up another one and at last there was a large table placed in the middle for the paperwork.

She hurried towards the cabinet, which said S-Z and opened it. She found her file and was paralyzed. Zarsalamel and Tira had not only files on her, but the most frightening was that they also had files on all of her ancestors from the first Talim to herself. She took a stack of the file folders and carried them over to the table.

After flipping through several folders, she froze to the place. They didn't only have some insignificant information on her – no! They had her whole life and doing on paper. Even weaknesses.

She went to the H-M cabinet and found Kilik's folder. As she had foreseen it was just as with her own papers.

So they had actually prepared for this before their birth. Spying their every move.

"Who are those people? They must be ancient!" She mumbled to herself.

"You better not move if you know what's good for you," a female voice cut through the silent room.

Talim turned and the folders slipped through her fingers, spreading all over the floor about her feet.

They were here.

"You're right Talim," a cold male voice added from the door opening. "We're eternities old. We're in fact immortals."

**Continues...**


	8. A call of Life and Death

Soul Calibur's character does not belong to me but to Namco... I'm only doing this for the fun of it.

Thank you so much for supporting my story after all this time. I really appreciate it!  
I'm apologize for my long absence, but I have dealt with quite some personal things among the university and moving to my own place. I hope you'll like this chapter though.

Please review, so I know what I can do better next time :)  
At some point when it's finish I'll rewrite it so it has a better and completed plot.

**Chapter 8 - A call of Life and Death**

Talim glanced feverish around her for a way out but there were none. She was trapped.  
She fumbled after her blades - and found her waist naked. She cursed under her breath: why did she have to be so careless? She should have known better than to wander straight into the Lion's cave without any help and completely unable to defend herself. Her curiosity had once again brought her into trouble - this time one she wasn't sure to get out of so easily.  
Her hand met a bulge, which was in her right pocket - her cell phone! Of course! Talim was about to smile in relief, but came on better thoughts and put on an expressionless look instead. They had to be kept in complete ignorance if she wanted this to succeed. She just had to hope that the phone could reach a signal strong enough to get through.  
"Immortals? How is that even possible?" Talim asked directed at Zarsalamel. Goosebumps erupted on her skin as she held eye contact with him. His golden eyes gleamed with an evilness that she had never seen before.  
However it was Tira with her hoarse and poisonous voice who answered: "By serving Soul Edge, of course!"

Talim shook her head in disbelief: "No, it can't be true. It's nothing more than an amazing legend." She knew that it was quite the opposite but it was the only way she could think of to remove their attention from her person to be about what she said.  
She let her right arm fall down her side in a defeated manner, however in reality her fingers found the buttons through the tight fabric. She might live in a technologically century of gadgets but she had always preferred an old fashion model to the smart phones for its simplicity and could now see herself lucky to have made such a terrific choice in a situation like this one. Kilik had been given the fast dial code 3 while she was here but it still took some time to push the right button at last.

Tira's purple eyes rested on her face for a long moment before giving a chuckle full of malice "Oh but dear," she moved closer to Talim, making her back further towards the wall with the office equipment. For a moment she thought she could hear the phone get on the line. "Haven't you been taught in school that every legend held some truth in them? This one being that Soul Edge soon will be at its glory again with Zarsalamel and me to gain souls for it."

While Tira had been talking, Talim seemed to have heard the familiar click when someone picks up the phone. The receiver had obviously recognised the grave context of the situation and didn't say anything. She shifted a little so the phone were closer to the source of voices.

"If I understand you correctly then the whole purpose of the contest was to gather everyone whom have some kind of connection to the heroes in the Legend and let them kill each other?" The jigsaw to this mystery was slowly evolving to a bigger picture in her head. She however still needed some pieces.

Tira's gruesome smile grew wider as if she was impressed. Zarsalamel however looked down upon her like she was some sort of vermin. She probably was in his world, she noted drily to herself. He hadn't spoken for a while, leaving it all to Tira, but he was taking control yet again.  
" You're correct, except for one crucial thing."

Talim moved uncomfortable: "What is that?" She was sure she wouldn't like the next to come and acknowledge that it had been for the same reason that he made such a great deal out of it.

"Our intention was only to incapacitate you and let Soul Edge do the rest. Can you imagine how much power it will get when it drains the long lineage of many heroes and heroines from energy? It would become unstoppable - yes, almost invincible even!"

"That's... That's why you collected the information about us!" Talim said, feeling how her world froze around her. " It's beyond evil - It's madness! You're both mad!"

Tira laughed malicious. "We take it as a compliment! But we have some errands to do, so we unfortunately have to leave you here. You know too much." While she spoke, she went towards the door and stepped out. Zarsalamel was already standing outside in the monitor room where Talim for a second could see that the fight was over - and had probably been for a while - as Cassandra and Raphael was helping a devastated Xianghua and Hong Yun-Seong off the battle arena. They were in good hands now.  
Talims focus returned to her own situation when she heard the sound of Tira pressing the buttons on the security panel.  
The frozen feeling was being replaced by some other emotion - panic. Talim ran towards the door as it was closing. "No! You can't do this! You simply can't!"  
She didn't get an answer. It was sealed.  
The realization of this, made her kick and hammer on the thick metal door with her fists and knees but it had none effect whatsoever. "LET ME OUT!".

The truth was not that she wouldn't give in but the fact that she had been painfully claustrophobic ever since an elevator incident in her childhood. She had been with her mother out shopping when the electricity in the elevator went out and they were first rescued about an hour later. The phobia had taken over her senses. She kept on going until her knuckles and knees felt bruised, completely losing track of time.

Eventually she stopped when she began to get cut short of air. She slipped down the metal door and landed on the floor with a soft bump.  
Talim looked around her in defeat for a way to come out but there were no ventilation shaft. It was obvious necessary to have the door open one stayed in here. It was apparently a very badly skilled architect who had designed this base.

"Talim? Are you there?" a familiar voices scratched from her pocket. Pockets can't speak, her dizzy mind concluded but from a last effort of her energy made her realized that she still was in contact with Kilik.

She took her cell phone out, pressing it to her ear as the connection was rather bad. "I'm still here. But not for long." her voice hoarse from screaming.

"What do you mean? Where are you?!" Did she imagine the concern in his voice? She was not sure anymore whether she was dreaming or not. It didn't really matter.

"I'm... at the headquarters... they locked me away. In the archive. Find the security panels... Use... the... swords... from... legend," Her stock of air was almost used and it was getting harder to stay awake. The phone slipped out of her hand as she collided on the cold concrete floor.

"Talim! TALIM!"

**Continues...**

A/N I have been trapped in a glass elevator at my local train station where it took them about an hour to get us out - I got the inner doors open by a little so we could get some air. The most ironically was the fact that people just passed by, completely ignoring us - two friends of mine and a lady with a baby - She blamed us for doing it. Not fun as we was between 16 and 18. I was 18. Why should we play with the buttons?

I have been reminded recently of this story by playing SC V - and recently SC IV. We are soon through with the story. I imagine the final show down in chapter 9 and an epilogue in chapter 10.

I have also been thinking of rewriting the first chapters, as first chapter is e.g. extremely short. I'll also try to get more details in. Perhaps adding some chapters if it seems fit. But let's take it one at a time. 


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